13/03/2025
Contemporary Houses Float Above the River
Creating authentic architecture involves a careful balance of many design drivers and does not always result in a vernacular solution. Sometimes the quirky nature of a site with unusual characteristics and constraints drives the design of a contemporary building.
Our project for three new houses by the Thames in Buckinghamshire has been submitted for planning following an extensive design process involving input from numerous specialist consultants. The land for the new houses is ecologically sensitive and also falls within a flood risk area. To mitigate this, new houses have been designed that sit above flood risk levels on stilts.
At this location, following recent flood prevention engineering works nearby, the flood risk is very low, however we are designing for the worst case scenario in order to overcome 1 in 100 year flood events. Buildings on flood risk areas would have traditionally been built over podium decks lifting the ground floors above the flood levels, however, environment agency guidelines today require us to design buildings that do not displace flood waters and hence the buildings are elevated on stilts so waters would flow under and around the new buildings in a flood event. A vernacular solution would look very odd sitting on stilts and therefore a contemporary design approach is adopted.
Whilst the buildings are very modern in form and appearance, materials and finishes are carefully selected from the local pallet found through an analysis of the nearby architectural inheritance.
A landscaping proposal leads the design with native tree planting, ponds and other planting features that lead to a positive impact on biodiversity across the land.
